The 2013 Silver SPUR Awards, held on October 23, recognized four individuals whose achievements have made San Francisco and the Bay Area a better place to live and work.

Chief Judge Karen V. Clopton has been promoting active public discourse, integrity and transparency in government for more than two decades. As the chief administrative law judge for the California Public Utilities Commission, she has made its crucial regulatory work more accessible to the public and more efficient. During her second term as a San Francisco Civil Service Commissioner (1993-2000), she was recruited to serve as Chief of Operations for the Port of San Francisco and Executive in Charge of Relocation to Pier One during the renovation of the historic Ferry Building. Whether encouraging youth to get involved with government through the Junior State of America or teaching citizens how to participate in the electoral process with the League of Women Voters, Judge Clopton has been deeply and widely engaged in civic leadership for San Francisco.